title: External conditions inversely change the RNA polymerase II elongation rate and density in yeast.
abstract: Elongation speed is a key parameter in RNA polymerase II (RNA pol II) activity. It affects the transcription rate, while it is conditioned by the physicochemical environment it works in at the same time. For instance, it is well-known that temperature affects the biochemical reactions rates. Therefore in free-living organisms that are able to grow at various environmental temperatures, such as the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, evolution should have not only shaped the structural and functional properties of this key enzyme, but should have also provided mechanisms and pathways to adapt its activity to the optimal performance required. We studied the changes in RNA pol II elongation speed caused by alternations in growth temperature in yeast to find that they strictly follow the Arrhenius equation, and that they also provoke an almost inverse proportional change in RNA pol II density within the optimal growth temperature range (26-37 °C). Moreover, we discovered that yeast cells control the transcription initiation rate by changing the total amount of available RNA pol II.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular and ERI Biotecmed, Facultad de Biológicas, Universitat de València, C/Dr. Moliner 50, E46100 Burjassot, Spain.
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Miguel
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Montón
authors.forename: Tianlu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gómez-Herreros
authors.forename: Sebastián
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chávez
authors.forename: Paula
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Alepuz
authors.forename: José E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Pérez-Ortín
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D015153:Blotting, Western; D017931:DNA Primers; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012319:RNA Polymerase II / Q000378:metabolism*; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000201:enzymology / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D013696:Temperature; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D012319:RNA Polymerase II
keywords: 6-azauracil; 6AU; CTD; DR; Elongation rate; GRO; Genomic run-on; NTP; Nucleotides; O.D.; ORF; RNA pol; RNA polymerase; RNA polymerase II; Saccharomyces cerevisiae; TR; TSS; Transcription rate; Yeast; carboxy terminal domain of the largest RNA pol II subunit; mRNA degradation rate; nTR; nascent TR; nt; nucleotide triphosphate; open reading frame; optical density; qPCR; quantitative PCR; transcription rate; transcription start site